The Byronic Image:  The Poet Portrayed

 Robert Beevers

 Byron was painted by few professional portraitists during the course of his short lifetime, and most of these portraits were seen by only a tiny select minority of the general public.  These original portraits are closely analysed in this work, not only for their intrinsic interest and qualities, but above all because they provided the basis for images of Byron issued in the form of prints during his lifetime and indeed up to the present day.  These images were created by engravers of varying skills most of whom had never seen Byron or even the original portraits from which they were purportedly derived. 

There is of course no single Byronic image: Byron was perceived visually as he was imagined, not only as a poet, but above all as a romantic figure.  Many of the 40 images of Byron reproduced in this book have never been seen in print since they were first created.

About the author:

Robert Beevers is a graduate of the Universities of Oxford and London, and an Honorary Doctor of the Open University, of which he was a founder member.  He is an historian, specialising in 19th century cultural history.

162 pages,

58 black and white illustrations

Price: £15.00, available direct from Olivia Press, or from any good bookseller

ISBN 0  9542118 1 2